FRIDAY FEATURE #21 – MAX & FAYE

Who: We are Max and Faye from Powershala, camping,
fishing and four-wheel driving is what we live for. Our favourite spots are
obviously beach front.

What: Our home is a 2003 Nissan Patrol with a Bundutec
Roof Top tent, and we also tow a 4.2m metre tinny. There isn’t anything too
fancy about Goldi, she’s just a tough rig that hasn’t let us down even though
she is carrying way too much.

When:

Faye- I quit the only job I have ever liked back in March 2018, a registered nurse in Brisbane. I have never lasted in a job more than two years cause I just couldn’t make it stick, but this one was a keeper. I still found it easy to say good bye to my nursing buddies and say hey to a life on the road.

Max: I was an electrical instrumentation tech on a
mine and quit that roll in February 2018 for a busy month putting the final
touches on our setup before we left in march.

Where: We left my (Fayes’s) family home in Kingscliff NSW on the 15th March and then Max’s family home in Brisbane on the 16th March. We then travelled right up the east coast all the way to the Tip. Of course we did the Old Tele Track! Then we went across the gulf to Katherine and up to Kakadu before making a U-turn and driving right through the guts of Australia to Adelaide. We worked in Adelaide for 3 weeks before sussing SA out and then jetting across the Nullarbor. From there we have hugged the coast all the Way to Dirk Hartog Island, that’s where we are now, still moving north. (We are a bit late in uploading their feature so they have now moved on further north towards Exmouth!)

Why:

Faye – Man, this place is so big and full of so many
contrasts. It has a taste of almost every other coutry right here. It would be
silly to invest so much trying to do this anywhere else.

Max: I have been captivated by the idea of cruising around aus for quite a few years now and wouldnt have it any other way! We both definitely love to travel and plan on overseas trips after this one for sure.

WHERE HAS BEEN YOUR FAVOURITE WILD SWIMMING SPOT?

Max: Port lincoln shark diving seeing great whites
swim around the boat and being in the cage admiring them in the wild or steep
point snorkelling.

Faye – Steep Point, I am not the bravest person, but Steep Point is the first place I have speared a fish and been comfortable about the journey back to shore. Also, there is this section between the cliffs and a huge slab of limestone and it’s like an aquarium when the light hits it. It is so full of colour and life. I’ve never seen anything like it. Dirk Hartog has been wild though too, there are baby sharks everywhere. I’m just waiting to run in to their mumma.

Faye – My camera, egg and bacon wraps for breakfast every. Damn. Day. And my snow jacket. I didn’t realise how much I disliked cold weather until this trip. Oh how I love to be warm. Can I add a fourth? Mayo.

FILL IN THE BLANKS: Nothing feels better than __________on______

Max – freedom on the mind

Faye – fresh water on my skin

WE HAVE HAD SOME PRETTY AMAZING (AND NOT SO) ENCOUNTERS WITH THE AUSTRALIAN WILDLIFE. WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR MOST BIZARRE ENCOUNTER AND OF COURSE YOUR MOST MEMORABLE?

Faye – Bizarre: Max pulling a fish in to the boat in
Kakadu and a huge croc making a b-line straight for us. Actually, that wasn’t bizarre,
it was straight up scary. Memorable: guarding a baby turtle as it made its
journey from the dunes to the big blue. What courageous little beings that know
exactly what their goal in life is.

Max: Sitting here right now writing this on dirk hartog island about 3 metres from the water with little baby bronze whalers swimming the shoreline all afternoon. What a place! I love seeing big crocs in the wild too they are so powerful.

SET THE SCENE OF YOUR IDEAL CAMPSITE

Faye – ooooh uhh no wind, a beach in the front yard and a fresh water creek in the back yard. A reef full of tasty and beautiful fish just off the shore and rockpools to wallow in. Oh and a curry cooking in the camp oven, a roaring fire next to it.

Max: wow faye has nailed that one… add a few beers in there and thats me too!

LASTLY, IF YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO SWAP PASSENGERS FOR A DAY, WHO WOULD YOU CHOOSE AND WHY?

Max: My dad, he is super jealous of us on this trip and
would love every second!

Faye – my friend Sarah, she’d just love it all. The 4wding, the fishing, the swimming, the hikes and the campfires. She’d be frothing.